HI I h M *n e w s
eing plopped on the chopping block
is a queasy experience.
Just ask Tom Richardson, coordi­
nator of the Oregon A ID S Hotline,
which during its 11-year existence
has fielded an estimated 103,000 inquiries from
people concerned about an array of issues relat­
ed to HIV and AIDS.
For the past couple of weeks, Richardson has
been in a relatively ruffled pose as he wondered
whether the hot line, a joint project of the O re­
gon Health Division and Cascade A ID S Pro­
ject, would be stripped of its state funding.
Without the state contract, which totals
$67,000 annually, Richardson concludes the hot
line would be toast. “We couldn’t survive,” he
says.
Thomas Bruner, C A P ’s executive director,
concurs. “All of our contracts are already under­
funded, and we have to raise the rest for all of
those programs,” he explains.
According to Bruner, the hot line’s “true
costs” reach about $85,000— meaning C A P has
to come up with the additional $18,000 not
covered by the state contract. He says C A P sim­
ply doesn’t have the resources to keep the hot
line operating without that contract.
“That would be it,” he says bluntly.
The hot line was escorted to the budgetary
guillotine after Gov. John Kitzhaber issued a
directive to state agencies calling for across-the-
board cuts in their budgets. Agencies submitted
proposed reductions to the governor as he
worked to craft his state budget. T he hot line
was one of the programs O H D included in its
list of proposed cuts.
On Dfec. 1, Kitzhaber unveiled his 1999-
2001 spending plan, and, says Dr. Mark Love­
less, director of O H D ’s HIV/STD/TB program,
the hot line survived this particular scare.
Loveless says Kitzhaber’s budget requests
included none of the program reductions pre­
sented by OHD. (The governor’s plan still faces
legislative hurdles.)
“Obviously we’re relieved,” he tells Just Out.
As for why O H D put the Oregon A ID S Hot­
line on the line, Loveless says if it’s a choice
between reductions in a project like the hot line
or slashing funds that go toward the delivery of
direct services, the former loses. “Tough choices
have to be made,” he assesses.
While it appears the Oregon A ID S Hotline
has staved off this threat, the very fact that it
was submitted as a possible cut has some HIV
and A ID S advocates questioning O H D ’s priori­
ties.
Jack Cox, a consumer advocate with the
HIV Advocacy Council of Oregon and South­
west Washington, says he’s nervous about what
the division’s action may portend for the future.
“[OHD] sells itself as building partnerships
C lose C all
When the governor asked state agencies to propose budget cuts,
the Oregon AIDS Hotline almost lost its dial tone by Inga S o ren sen
Oregon A ID S Hotline coordinator Tom Richardson
with communities and consumers, but does
this,” he says. “This really causes one to pause.”
Cox and others say the hot line is a critical
tool for providing callers with HIV prevention
and services information and creating links to
HIV services in all of Oregon’s 36 counties.
Cox also believes the hot line, one of the few
statewide HIV programs, is cost effective. He
estimates “for every HIV infection prevented by
accurate information, the savings in medical
dollars alone is an average $70,000."
And providing basic HIV transmission and
prevention information is still a large part of
what the Oregon A ID S Hotline does.
Richardson, who estimates the hot line cur­
rently receives between 800 and 900 calls
monthly, says while the AID S pandemic is near­
ly two decades old, “most people still don’t seem
to get that you can’t contract HIV from door­
knobs or from drinking glasses.”
Established in 1987, the hot line— minus
Richardson— is totally volunteer-driven. It pro­
vides current information on HIV transmission,
testing, prevention and treatment; HIV and
ST D education brochures, as well as information
sheets from various HIV service programs and
providers; plus risk assessment and referral to
HIV and ST D test centers throughout the state.
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■ The O regon A ID S H otline can be reached
weekdays from 10 a.m . to 9 p .m ., and weekends
from noon to 6 p.m . Those calling from the Portland
area should dial 223-2437; the statewide number is
1 -800-777-2437. Volunteers are always needed.
Financial planning is a long-term client-advisor relationship built upon two-
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It also makes available up-to-date treatment
periodicals and fact sheets that can be mailed or
picked up; information and referral for financial
and practical support programs; peer-to-peer
telephone support for those with HIV; toll-free
access to support and health care providers for
low-income rural people with HIV; and physi­
cian and alternative practitioner referral.
Furthermore, the hot line has taken on the
role of being a statewide information referral
line on sexually transmitted diseases other than
HIV. Richardson says most callers having sexual
contact and fearing exposure to HIV don’t real­
ize their activity also carries a higher risk of con­
tracting other more common and more easily
transmittable diseases as well.
According to Richardson, of the hot line’s
10,000 annual calls, at least 1,600 are from peo­
ple living with HIV; roughly 4,500 calls come
from counties outside the Portland area; and at
least 1,000 calls are from people of color.
Both Richardson and Cox say the hot line is
frequently the first point of contact for an HIV­
positive person to services in the state, and
callers remain anonymous.
In a Nov. 18 letter to the governor’s policy
advisor for health issues, Mark Gibson, hot line
volunteer Kathy Kerr wrote: “I could relate to
you countless calls that I felt resulted in chang­
ing behavior that could have put the
caller.. .directly at risk of HIV infection.
“I could also relate countless calls where the
information I gave helped stem the tide of irra­
tional fear and prejudice toward the disease,
[and] calls that calmed the fear and emotional
devastation of one who had recently discovered
his or her own HIV-positive status.”
She added, “I must also say that the intensi­
ty level of the calls in recent years has increased.
The callers tend to be more disenfranchised and
need more assistance than those from five years
ago. These callers are people less able to advo­
cate for the services they need, yet they need
them no less.”
The hot line also acts as the Gay Resource
Connection, which offers referrals to sexual
minority-related social, support, cultural, spiri­
tual, business, medical, legal and advocacy
resources and events throughout Oregon.
In addition, the hot line is hoping to launch
a program aimed at assisting people who are
having problems maintaining their AIDS treat­
ment regimen.
According to Richardson, studies indicate
that some people on the “cocktail” are unable to
maintain the complex dosing schedule that is
basic to its success. He says hot line staff may, for
example, provide callers with specially-designed
custom schedules to minimize confusion about
which drugs to take when, as well as other ideas
to help people stay on track.
“There are so many obstacles and challenges
facing people when it comes to HIV and A ID S,”
says Richardson. “T he bottom line is that there
are now more people living with HIV and AID S
than ever before, and there’s a lot to deal with.
W hat kind of a message is O H D sending by say­
ing the hot line is expendable? It seems to imply
we’ve beaten this thing.”
For their part, O H D officials reiterate the
“tough choices” argument. And, says state epi­
demiologist Dr. David Heming, the information
supplied via the hot line can be obtained from
other sources, though not as easily.
But some believe many hot line callers sim­
ply wouldn’t have the energy, patience or know­
how to successfully traverse the maze of bureau­
cracies to obtain information.
"Some people may be able to get what they
need. Some may get a little, and some may sim­
ply give up,” says Bruner.
A t least for now, that theory will remain
untested.
Colleen Weed
J M J i MORTGAGE
M JW A Advocates
9 9 0 0 S. W. W ilsh ire S treet • P o rtla n d , O regon 9 7 2 2 5
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